Can I Still Have a Baby Even in Perimenopause?

The best way to know for sure

by Stacey Colino

Photograph: Shutterstock.com

The latest research says that next to age, the strongest predictor of fertility is not your measure of FSH (follicle-stimulating hormone), which many doctors currently rely on as a barometer, but rather your level of anti-müllerian hormone (AMH). Your allocation of AMH, which is produced by small follicles in your ovaries, is believed to reflect the size of the remaining egg pool in your ovaries (what’s often referred to as the ovarian reserve). The less AMH you produce, the fewer eggs remain and the lower your chances of getting pregnant, says OB-GYN Laura Corio, attending physician at the Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York City and author of The Change Before the Change. Low levels of AMH, however, are no guarantee that you can’t get pregnant, so wait a full year after your last period before you go contraception free— unless, of course, you want a child.